Covering Downfield

[Ed Hickland]

Finally, our first year with 5-man mechanics.

The Officials' Manual goes through a good explanation of who is responsible for eligibles prior to the snap. My question is how does the BJ let the HL and LJ know which receiver(s) he is covering?

Second question: How do you cover once the ball is snapped? Is it zone coverage? What about eligibles coming out of the backfield?

Last question: Does it help and do you adjust to varying defenses, for instance, should you cover differently if a team is in a man-to-man versus a cover 2?

Thanks,

[Jim D]

Our BJ gives us a signal as to which side is strong and we base our coverage on that. That coverage is only for the first five yards, after that it's a zone coverage on our part.

We aren't smart enough to vary things by the defense's strategy.

[Jim D]

I omitted the second question - backs and all eligible receivers are considered and covered according to the scheme you're using. The mechanics manual has the recommended keys and coverage. The points is, the backs are included in this.

Our BJ's signal is to give his "I've got 11 players" signal with his arm to the strength side of the formation. Based on that, as a LJ I know who my initial keys are. I try and track them for the first 5 yards if it's a pass play and then I switch to a zone coverage.

[Warrenkicker]

That switch from keys to zone coverage is what I feel the official's manual does a poor job of emphasizing. We have man-to-man coverage at the snap based on our keys. We may even have two eligibles that we need to watch but that once the ball is snapped and the initial contact is done we need to switch to zone coverage. So that even if, as a wing, our key is not the receiver right in front of us we will probably have him in our zone within seconds. It is not so horribly difficult for us to make sure he didn't step OOB during his route even when he wasn't our key because BJ can't see if he was OOB.

[ChickenOfNC]

Warren, I agree with you. Keys/coverage seem to be poorly understood by many of our officials here. Even some of our evaluators seem to be confused by them.

I've had an evaluator knock me for not following my key 50 yards downfield. I guess I'm expected to cover him like a cornerback. I don't have tackle speed, much less CB speed.